Kara and Jared’s family elopement in Breckenridge wasn’t about creating a big, elaborate wedding day. They came from Missouri with their boys, headed into the mountains, and made the evening about the people who actually make up their everyday life. Good weather, an unreal sunset, kids running around in the fields, and two people finally getting married after first crossing paths 13 years earlier. Honestly, it didn’t need much else.
Their story started with a short-lived high school fling. Then life did what life does. They went their separate ways, married other people, and years later found their way back to each other. This time, they became best friends first and eventually realized they wanted to spend forever together.
I love photographing a second marriage as much as I love a first. There’s already so much life behind it. Kara and Jared weren’t standing there wondering what their future might look like someday. Their family was literally standing beside them.
Kara’s favorite color is black, so all the boys wore black alongside Jared while she stood out in white. They also have tiny heart tattoos, which we made sure to photograph. Those little details are always some of my favorites because they don’t need a big explanation. They’re just theirs.
A Family Elopement That Actually Felt Like Family
One of my favorite things about this day was that the boys weren’t treated like wedding accessories. They were right in the middle of it. They stood with Kara and Jared during the ceremony, helped with her dress, wandered around, and got to be themselves. And I have to give them credit—they were SO good. Asking FOUR boys to put on suits, stand in a mountain meadow, and participate in a wedding could have gone in approximately 700 different directions. Instead, they were absolute champs.
That doesn’t mean I wanted them perfectly posed all evening, though. We made time for the classic photos, but then I let them move around and be kids. Those lifestyle photos made the whole thing feel like a family session and an elopement rolled into one. That balance was especially important because Kara told me from the beginning that she loved photos with movement and intimacy more than anything overly posed. So that’s exactly what we leaned into.
Chasing the Sunset During Their Breckenridge Elopement
Once the ceremony and family photos were done, Kara and Jared had a little time just for them. And Colorado really did its thing. We had one of those nearly perfect evenings where the weather cooperated, the mountains stayed visible, and the sun dropped behind the trees with that warm golden light you hope for when planning a Breckenridge elopement. We walked through the meadow and kept moving rather than stopping every thirty seconds to pose.
Of course, we still took a few more traditional portraits. I’m never going to tell you that you don’t need a beautiful photo of the two of you looking at the camera. You do. Your parents will probably want one, too. But once we have it? Let’s move. Their boys had already given us plenty of personality; the serious part was over, and the sunset was doing most of the work for us.
This day didn’t feel like Kara and Jared were trying to recreate a traditional wedding on a smaller scale. They let this chapter of their lives be exactly what it was. Two people with a whole lot of history. Because getting married again doesn’t mean starting your story over. Sometimes it means bringing the whole story with you.
